Perceptions of Irish Step Dance: National, Global, and Local

Abstract

The spectacular popularity of Riverdance in 1994, in Ireland and abroad, prompted critical reflection on notions of cultural authenticity, ethnicity, and identity. The attention focused on step dance led to increased discussions of national characteristics. This essay argues that the perceptions of Irish step dance, at first local, then nationalized and globally exported, reflect larger issues of relevance to the Irish state. Although these perceptions have influenced the development of Irish step dance locally, nationally, and globally, the dance practices themselves have assisted in molding and maintaining these same perceptions. I will illustrate how the commodification of Irish step dance practice, particularly during the past five years, has acted as a major catalyst for the emergence of marginal dance practices and has reenergized the Irish step dance tradition. Throughout this essay, I use the expression “marginal dance practice” to contrast with competition dance culture, which I interpret as the mainstream, accepted canon. Although no one grand theory of globalization exists, considerable thinking on the subject has emerged over the past several decades among theorists from both the humanities and the social sciences. The term “globalization” appeared in the mid-1980s to replace others such as “internationalization” and “transnationalization” as a description for our ever shrinking world and the perceived process of “cultural homogenization on a global scale” (Hoogvelt 1997, 114; King 1991, viii). Different paradigms exist in the literature and, for the most part, they fall within two areas: international relations and world-system-theory.

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